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Time Machine

Author: linsilpencil

my backyard became my setplaying with shadow and light“just pose or whatever!”

my cousin, my model

So my cousin decided to visit me one time, and for some reason I decided to move my lazy-ass and take photos to feel a tad bit more productive in my very unproductivesummer.

It was all spontaneous with me grabbing my Nikon DSLR and telling her to come down to the kitchen where the lighting is surprisingly good. My backyard also has a lot of plants and greenery because of my mom’s love for them and because I am quite drawn to the color green with its many hues and shades and how organic it is.

I am in no way a pro photographer; I don’t even know if I should call myself a photographer as it is simply a hobby and something I dabble with occasionally (if I decide to not be lazy). Perhaps a photo hobbyist?

The photos turned out to be pretty good with a little help of editing. By the way, I don’t really have an aesthetic here. I just did everything creatively and went with my instinct and feel. My awesome cousin, who I often turn into a guinea pig, happily went along with my direction and willingly posed for the camera. Thank you, my dear!

Anyway, I hope you liked the photos. I am not that confident with my skills and am still learning photography lingo and manipulating my camera.

Here is a collection of my personal favorite photos of the heavens, using my phone’s (Samsung Galaxy J1) camera, except the photo with text on it. It was taken with my Nikon DSLR cam. Some of these photos are edited with the help of VSCO, while some are purely untouched.

As you can notice I have changed the theme colors of my blog. I have opted for a lighter and more minimalist feel to my blog. Aside from that I have decided to tweak my blog’s content. I want my blog to be even more relatable and helpful to my readers. I can’t really place a label on the content I am going to give but here are what you can expect:

I will still be posting my poetry and my written works here

I will be posting lifestyle type of content (essentials, hacks, etc)

I will be posting reviews, inspirations, and rants

I will be posting my travels and adventures

I will be posting my photography attempts

I hope that I can really keep my promise and post regularly. With this blog repackaging, I hope I can gain more traffic and good reviews.

Bees’ll buzz, kids’ll blow dandelion fuzz
And I’ll be doing whatever snow does in summer.
A drink in my hand, my snow up against the burning sandProb’ly getting gorgeously tanned in summer.

Ah, summer. What a beautiful description from dear Olaf. Yes, over here in the Philippines it’s almost summer and I think I don’t need to say why I’m excited. Finally I am free of homework and can binge watch Leonardo DiCaprio’s films (by the way, congrats Leo!). I can go on Tumblr for 3 hours and not feel guilty because hey, I’m not procrastinating anymore! Whoops, I kinda did say why I’m excited for summer. Anyway, summer is exciting and fun and all other adjectives that mean the same thing. Of course, summer is a great time to try to achieve #feedgoals in Instagram and try to Tumblr-ify your boring life, at least for me.

So as we all know we have this huge bucket list when summer sets in and half of the time that list doesn’t get all the checks because summer is way too short. But still having a bucket list is great because it gives you a sense of accomplishment when you do cross one off the list.

#SummerBucketList

Get Instagram-worthy photos/ Photos that can be on Tumblr

Okay, so since during summer I have more time to edit and curate my photos I am just a few steps until I achieve my goal of reaching Tumblr worthiness. Not to mention, I have time to go to places to take great photos.

Is this Tumblr enough?

2. Read more books.

If you still can’t tell from my blog’s url, yes I am a bookworm. So a perfect way to kill time during the summer when I decide I want to take a break from being an Internet kid is to read a couple more books. Books are bae. ❤

3. Swim.

Didn’t you know? I’m a mermaid!Seriously! Just kidding though, I do love to swim with the company of my cousins. Plus it’s a great way to beat the summer heat and get a tan. Armed with your materials like cute swimwear and a high quality camera, you can take amazing photos. Just don’t forget your sunscreen to avoid being turned into a burnt human.

4. Watch a bunch of Leo DiCaprio’s films.

I’m gonna watch Leo’s films in honor of him winning an Oscar and fangirl over his beautiful face. I mean why not waste your time watching Leo act as Romeo, Jack, and Jay Gatsby?

Summer= travel. Travelling opens your mind and makes you happier. Plus it’s loads of fun and the memories will last forever. This summer, I’m travelling to Singapore with my cousins and I’m excited beyond words because it’s my first trip abroad! Yay! I might be travelling to Dumaguete City here in PH to visit Silliman University to check the university out since I’ll (hopefully!) be attending it for Senior High and college.

If you happen to be a Filipino like me the word Harana is all too familiar and is a great part of our culture. Here in the Philippines, it is essential for a guy to woo the girl he likes and earn her very precious ‘yes’ for them to officially become a couple. Harana is a very traditional way of courtship, where the guy will serenade the girl usually outside her house, he sings a song in order to express his feelings for the girl, usually accompanied by the sweet notes of a guitar. The guy may be accompanied by his friends in his act of love, and the harana is usually done at night to avoid the daytime heat.
Here is a scene taken from the recently concluded On The Wings of Love, which is a TV series very famous here in the Philippines. Yes, the language spoken is Filipino but hopefully for those who don’t understand the language you will still be able to get the point of harana.

Video from: ABS-CBN entertainment’s YouTube channel

Undeniably, this gesture is sweet and seems almost like something out of a movie. However, this practice done by our ancestors many years ago is hardly done nowadays. Doing this in this era would almost seem like a shock and something out of the ordinary. So why are teens not carrying out this practice today anymore? This is probably due to the rise of social media and the constant evolution and rise of things. One day, stripes could be the trend and the next it’s not. Following trends is a great factor in people’s lives these days, because if you don’t it’s like you’ve missed out. Not much people do harana anymore, and it’s not really a trend, so what’s the point of doing it? Courting someone is so much easier now. A text is sent, a link to a song is sent, a favorite quote is sent, a cute image from Tumblr is sent and you can easily woo the love of your life. This is what is happening. Admit it, you do get the butterflies.

Call me an old soul, but I badly want the traditional ways of courting be revived. Maybe I’m a hopeless romantic or what, but thing is nothing is sweeter when you’ve seen someone work hard for a goal and actually get it. I do believe in the quote, “Actions speak louder than words.” As a girl, seeing a guy work hard to earn your special ‘yes’ is proof that he is serious about his intentions is the sweetest thing and if you’re a guy who does this or did this, major props to you!

Basically, harana is outdated to most people already since it is an old practice. But it is an old practice that needs to be revived.

if you follow me on Instagram, I have promised to post my review and insights of On the Wings of Love, which has just ended yesterday! I will be writing this post mainly for my fellow Otwolistas and Jadines. Yes, I am fan of the tandem of James Reid and Nadine but I promise to not be biased. Enjoy!

I deeply love the story of On the Wings of Love and really followed it throughout the time it was aired. Of course even if I was a fan of Jadine, I was a bit skeptical of On the Wings of Love or OTWOL. The fear of the show becoming another overly cliche story was hard to suppress, as well as the skepticism of whether James and Nadine would still be as mesmerizing on the TV screen as they were on the movie screens. Yes, I am a fan of theirs but my criticism of shows and their stories still rise over my being of a fan. But after seeing the trailer of the show, my skepticism disappeared especially after learning Ms. Antoinette Jadaone would be directing the show, as I admired her work very much. The story of OTWOL made me very excited; Leah, a hopeful, bubbly girl from the Philippines goes to San Francisco to join a chorale contest and stays longer to be able to earn money for her family back home but her Visa is expiring soon and so she marries Clark, who is a green-card holder to have her own green-card and after earning it she’ll file a divorce. But as the old quote says, “Love moves in mysterious ways.” The two soon fall in love and face challenges every young couple must face, if I do say so myself.

I love the storytelling of the show. The actors have created characters that have come to life and have become so real. The script is superb, with its content and the message it send out. Most of all, it has taken Filipino teleseryes to a whole new level. To be honest, I have slowly lost hope in teleseryes. The plots have become repetitive, with a poor but kind protagonist and an evil and scheming antagonist, blah blah blah. But OTWOL has brought my love for teleseryes back to life. Instead of a human antagonist, the antagonist in Clark and Leah’s story is LIFE itself. And this has been what I’ve been waiting for. #satisfied
The show is also very relatable. As the two main characters learn new things, I found myself learning as well. I have earned many insights because of the show.

5 Insights From On the Wings of Love:
1. Sometimes YOU need to happen first for an US to materialize. Growth is important before getting into a relationship. You need to be mature and truly ready.
2. If it’s meant to be, everything’ll work out. True, nothing beats destiny. Clark and Leah’s happy ending proves that if you’re each others destiny, it’ll happen even after a couple of bumps and storms.
3. Chase your dreams. Never ever forget your dreams. They’ll take you pretty far.
4. Priorities make a hell of a difference. Priorities keep you on track. Yes sometimes you’ll have to compromise and hurt others but having priorities get you one step closer to reaching your dreams.
5. Happiness is really a choice. Your happiness is yours and should never depend on a person. It’ll make you bitter and sad and miss out in life.

I give the cast and crew of On the Wings of Love a humongous round of applause. Thank you for a great show; the great acting and storytelling. I truly believe this show can never be remade. It has created its own legacy and will forever be a part of the history of Philippine primetime television. It has given me as a viewer, so much satisfaction, lessons, and insights.
The show has ended and I will no longer have something to stay up late for and get the feels from. Nonetheless, nothing can ever replace OTWOL’s place in my heart and memories. And the show has made me have an inkling of hope in forever.

Greece

Greece has been on my travel bucket list after watching movies like Mamma Mia! and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. It’s crystal clear waters and the beauty of its architecture makes it too hard to resist! The cute little houses and of course Greek food adds to the beauty of the place. I’ve also always been interested in Greek mythology and to visit its birthplace would be a dream come true! Here are 5 of the destinations I’d like to visit when I get to Greece!

Holy Trinity Monastery, built on top of the cliff in Meteora near Kalabaka, Trikala, GreeceZagori is found in Northwestern Greeceand boasts its beautiful yet striking geology and 2 national parks.Delphi is the second-most popular archaeological site in Greece. Other structures found at Delphi include the Temple of Apollo, the Athenian Treasury, & the theater and hippodrome that once hosted the Pythian games.Athens has been inhabited for more than 30,000 years and is famous for the Acropolis, the Parthenon, the Ancient Agora and the Theatre of Dionysus to name a few.Peloponnese is shaped like a large leaf and features classic Greek temples, Venetian fortresses, and Olympia where the first Olympic games were held in honor of Zeus.